This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from my application COMPUTER HAVING EMERGENCY CALLING FUNCTION AND EMERGENCY CALLING METHOD USING COMPUTER filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Sep. 4, 1998 and there duly assigned Serial No. 36496/1998.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer, and more particularly, to a computer having an emergency calling function, and to an emergency calling method using a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers at home have been usually used for the purposes of personal business, education or entertainment. However, as computer-related technologies have been continuously developed, the function and use of computers has become more diverse utilizing computer hardware""s high performance.
Meanwhile, for an emergency case such as a fire or a burglar breaking into a home, or for an urgent need for medical assistance by a family member at home, an emergency call system for contacting an appropriate organization or person should be provided at the home. However, to additionally equip such an emergency call system at home requires a considerable cost.
The following patents each discloses features in common with the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,804 to Fansa et al., entitled COMPUTER CONTROLLED SECURITY AND SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM, issued on Jan. 19, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,644 to Garton et al., entitled DATA COMMUNICATION DEVICE, issued on Jul. 28, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,065 to Hicks et al., entitled COMPUTER-CONTROLLED ELECTRONIC SYSTEM MONITOR, issued on Oct. 16, 1990, U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,885 to Bergman, entitled SENSOR TEST METHOD AND APPARATUS, issued on Nov. 11, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,778 to Stouffer, entitled SECURITY SYSTEM, issued on Aug. 6, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,445 to Bloomfield et al., entitled MOBILE DETECTION SYSTEM, issued on Aug. 29, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,916 to French et al., entitled EVENT DRIVEN REMOTE GRAPHICAL REPORTING OF BUILDING AUTOMATION SYSTEM PARAMETERS, issued on Oct. 29, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,391 to Chambers, entitled REMOTE CONTROLLER FOR ACTIVATING SPEECH MESSAGES AND FOR CONTACTING EMERGENCY SERVICES, issued on Feb. 4, 1992.
To solve the above problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a computer which can simply inform an appropriate organization or person of an emergency situation, and an emergency calling method using a computer.
Accordingly, to achieve the above object, there is provided an emergency call apparatus in a computer comprising: an emergency detector for detecting an occurrence of an emergency situation and for generating an emergency detection signal; normal-state restorer for receiving the emergency detection signal from the emergency detector and for restoring the computer from a power-save state or a power-off state to a normal state; and an emergency caller for transferring a predetermined emergency call message using a preset emergency call telephone number after the operational state of the computer is restored by the normal-state restorer to a normal state.
Also, to achieve the above object, there is provided a computer having an emergency call function for detecting an emergency situation and for transferring an emergency call message previously set by a user to a preset emergency call telephone number, the computer comprising: a non-volatile memory for storing information which is not lost if power is turned off; a message/telephone number setter for receiving an emergency call message indicating an emergency situation and an emergency call telephone number which are input by a user and for storing the received message and number in the non-volatile memory; an emergency call button for generating an emergency detection signal when the user presses an emergency call button; a microprocessor for receiving the emergency detection signal from the emergency call button and restoring the computer from a power-save state or a power-off state to a normal state; and an emergency call controller for reading the emergency call message and emergency call telephone number from the non-volatile memory and for making a telephone call to the emergency call telephone number to transfer the emergency call message, after an operational state of the computer is restored to a normal state by the microprocessor.
To achieve another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an emergency calling method using a computer having an emergency call button, the method comprising the steps of: storing an emergency call telephone number and an emergency call message in an auxiliary memory of the computer; pressing the emergency call button; if an operational state of the computer is in a power-save state or a power-off state, restoring the computer to a normal state; making a telephone connection to the emergency call telephone number stored in the auxiliary memory; and transferring the emergency call message.